CHRIS Park led Bournemouth to victory over Basingstoke & North Hants at Chapel Gate and then said he would be happy to continue as captain with Martin Miller’s blessing.

Park took the reins for the Division One contest after Miller had decided to drop into the seconds in a bid to rediscover his form with the bat following a poor start to the season.

However, after Andrew Woodward had withdrawn from the team at the 11th hour, Park contacted Miller to ask if he would reconsider.

And having mustered just 11 runs in their first six games, Miller hit his highest score of the season, his undefeated 30 proving crucial as Bournemouth registered a third win in succession.

Miller’s heroics, coupled with the exploits of Team Spin – Jem Warner, Jake Hurley, Rob Pack and Dom Clutterbuck – saw Lions defend a modest 133 for nine.

Opener Ben Bridgen (43) anchored the innings, sharing 50 for the third wicket with Park (28), before Miller showed all his experience to ensure Bournemouth would not suffer another collapse.

Park, who returned to the club at the start of the season, told the Daily Echo: “I was really pleased for Martin to get his first score and contribute an important 30 runs at the end. He was back to his normal chirpy self at the end of the game.

“We had a chat after Woody had dropped out and I said, without question, he had to come back in. As fate would have it, the second team game was called off so he would have missed out if he hadn’t played.

“He said he still wanted me to captain. He said he hadn’t been thinking about the game during the week and had been quite looking forward to a stress-free Saturday!

“It did feel slightly awkward captaining the side with him there but we are all grown men. As a senior player, he is there to rely on anyway. Having captained every team I have played for, it was no skin off my nose to skipper and to lead the lads to a good victory.

“We will talk early in the week about what we are going to do in the next game. If he wants me to continue, I wouldn’t have any problems with that.

“I know he would be there to support with the admin and communication side of things. With only seven games gone, I don’t really know the ins and outs of every player at the moment but I am sure he would be there to help.”

Although Bridgen and Luke Matthews (15) put on 31 for the first wicket, Lions lost Matthews and Hurley in successive balls before Bridgen and Park steered them to 81 for three.

However, Sanrang Urankar and Chris Bollom also fell cheaply as they wobbled at 82 for five before Miller put on 34 with Park to stem the tide.

A minor adjustment for rain saw Basingstoke set 132 from 49 overs with Warner and Pack (1-13) making early breakthroughs before Hurley ran out Daniel Belcher to leave the visitors on 53 for three.

Clutterbuck (2-25), Warner (3-14) and Hurley (2-28) combined to reduce them to 105 for nine before Matthews ran out Ryan Connor to seal a 15-run victory.